Night 1 
Briefing Movie (voiceover)

Sam	I try not to get tangled up with the big shots in this town, so when a beautiful dame showed up at my office and said her husband was Miles Sternwood, I knew she was trouble.

Sternwood was a shipping mogul, ran an import/export racket down at the docks. Word around town was that he had his finger in a lot of pies. Rubbed elbows with the mayor and city council.

She said he was mixed up in something shady and she wanted out. I asked her what she thought I could do about it. She said she wanted me to dig up something that would land him in the slammer. Then she batted those eyes at me. How could I say no?

She mentioned a couple of reporters who had been sniffing around.  One of them, a dame named Carpenter, had disappeared, and her partner Shelby was going crazy trying to figure out what had happened to her.

She was afraid her husband had something to do with it, and wanted me to track down Shelby and find out what he knew.

I told her to sit tight and I’d meet her later at The Blue Room.  She gave me a smile that would melt an Eskimo and said, "Till then."  Yeah, till then.	

Sam visits Shelby in his apartment

Nick	What do you want?	
Sam	You Nick Shelby, the reporter?	
Nick	Yeah, what’s it to you pal?	
Sam	My name's Marlowe... I'm a private eye.  I'm thinking of paying a visit to Sternwood Enterprises. A little birdie told me you might have already done some digging over there, so...	
Nick	Yeah, see, I ain’t saying nothing about that place!  And you’ll quit poking into it if you know what’s good for you!	
Sam	I'll keep it in mind. I hear your partner went missing while looking into it, and you got stonewalled by the cops. You ought to be eager to help.	
Nick	Yeah, well, Lt. Treadwell dropped the case after a day, said she must have up and left town.  Left town!?  More like he was paid off.  Look Marlowe, if you want to go sticking your neck out, you go on.  I’d love to know what happened to Laura - but I ain’t got nothing for you.	
Sam	They rattled you to keep quiet or else, huh?  Look, maybe don’t tell me everything, just something I could have found out on my own, you know?	
Nick	Alright listen, I’ll tell you this - keep your eyes peeled along Water Street if you’re looking for a way in that’s on the, uh, "shady" side of the building, you get my drift?	
Sam	Yeah, okay Nick.  Anything else?	
Nick	Yeah, Sternwood’s office is in a restricted area which has got a code you punch in to enter.  I saw Treadwell coming out of there when I was snooping around trying to figure his angle, so he probably knows it.  You may want to pay a visit to his office over at the precinct first.	
Sam	Thanks, pal.  Look, if I find out anything about your partner, I’ll let you know.	

Sam goes to The Blue Room (voiceover)

Sam	When I walked into the place she was standing at the bar.  The Blue Room’s not the Savoy, but it’s no saloon, either.  Even in a joint like this she stood out. 	

Conversation between Sam and Vivian in The Blue Room

Vivian	Good evening, Mr. Marlowe. Have you any news?	
Sam	You’re a little overdressed for this joint.  You sure you want to be seen in public with a private dick?	
Vivian	I can afford a blemish on my character, Mr. Marlowe, but not on my clothes.  The case?	
Sam	I met that reporter, Shelby. Got a few leads.	
Vivian	Anything useful?	
Sam	A bent cop named Treadwell.  Know him?	
Vivian	I’ve seen him around my husband’s warehouse.  I think Miles pays him to look the other way.	
Sam	Any proof?	
Vivian	Just a feeling.	
Sam	I paid a visit to Treadwell’s office at the precinct. Found a letter from your husband, and a way to get into his office.	
Vivian	I’d like you to do something for me, Mr. Marlowe.  There’s a safe in my husband’s office, and in that safe is a diamond necklace. I want you to bring it to me. 	
Sam	Is it yours?	
Vivian	Let’s just say it should be. I saw my husband put that necklace in his safe and, naively, I thought it was for me. Silly girl!  My husband has a mistress, Mr. Marlowe.  Or perhaps I should say “had”.  Anyway, I’m sure the necklace was meant for her.	
Sam	What happened to her?	
Vivian	I don’t know, but the necklace is still there.  You’ll want to search the safe anyway for evidence, won’t you? 	
Sam	There’s just one problem. How do I get into the safe?	
Vivian	My husband always keeps the key to the safe on him. You’ll have to find a way to get it from him.  Unless you know a good, what’s the term … second story man?	
Sam	Just like that, eh?	
Vivian	You’re a resourceful man, Mr. Marlowe.  I’m sure you’ll find a way.	

Night 2
Sam visits Nick in his apartment

Nick	Marlowe, what’s the story?	
Sam	I dug up some dirt on Sternwood, but that ain’t for you.  I figured you might be interested in this, though. (hands evidence to Nick)	
Nick	(Pause while he reads) That dirty bastard!  So he had her killed because she found proof of his waterfront racket, huh?	
Sam	Yeah, seems so, pal.  Sorry.  At least ya know what happened now.	
Nick	Yeah, sure.  It stinks though.  She was a good kid, Marlowe.  She didn’t deserve this.	
Sam	No one ever does, Nick, no one ever does.  	
Nick	Hey, Sam?  Thanks for this.	
Sam	No sweat, Nick.	

Treadwell arrests Nick in his apartment

Treadwell	Put your hands where I can see them.	
Nick	Hey, hey, you just can't barge in here like this.	
Treadwell	Well, what do we have here?	
Night 3
Briefing Movie (voiceover)

Sam	The papers had the whole story, Laura’s disappearance, Sternwood’s murder, Shelby’s arrest. They were calling it a love triangle gone bad.  The city hadn’t seen a scandal this big in a long time, and they were making the most of it.  The only problem was, they got it all wrong.

I figured I'd better pay Nick a visit in the slammer, hear it from the horse's mouth.  I had a friend on the force who owed me a favor.  It was time to remind him.	

Sam goes to see officer O'Malley 

Sam	Hey O'Malley, I need to see Shelby.	
Officer O'Malley	Shelby?	
Sam	The reporter.	
Officer O'Malley	Oh, aye, the reporter.   Hey Jackson, Marlowe's coming in to talk to the reporter.	
Officer Jackson	Alright, send him on back.	

Sam goes to Nick's cell

Nick	Marlowe, you rat! You set me up giving me that dirt on Sternwood!	
Sam	I didn't set you up, Nick, but I might be able to help you out.	
Nick	Oh yeah? Why should I believe you?	
Sam	You got a choice?	
Nick	Hmph.... You being straight with me? You didn't tip off the cops?	
Sam	Straight, Nick.	
Nick	Alright, Marlowe, if you're on the up and up, what do you think you can do about it?	
Sam	Why don't you tell me what happened and we'll see?	
Nick	Treadwell.  He came busting into my place right after you left.  Said he was arresting me for Sternwood's murder.  I tried to get away but he slapped me around and cuffed me.  Said he'd add resisting arrest to the charges.  He took the stuff about Laura that you'd left and said it was proof of my guilt.  Now the cops think I killed Sternwood as revenge for Laura's murder.	
Sam	How did he find the evidence I left?	
Nick	That's the funny thing, he went straight for it.  Didn't even look at it when he picked it up.  Like he already knew it was there.	
Sam	He must’ve seen me with it at the warehouse, followed me to your place.  Which means he's likely the one that killed Sternwood.  But the timing’s a bit too convenient.  The only way he’d have known I would be there is if . . .  Alright, Nick, sit tight.  	
Nick	What're you gonna do?	
Sam	For starters, take another look around the warehouse.  I'll be in touch.	

Fade from precint to warehouse (voiceover)

Sam	I headed back to the warehouse for another look around.  I had a hunch that's where I'd find the anwers I was looking for.

Looks like the cops have got the place sealed up good.  I'm going to have to do some work and find another way in tonight.	

Sam finds a note in Receiving and Shipping office (voiceover) 

Sam	Could be the key was on Sternwood when he was killed. Maybe he's still in the morgue over at the precinct.	

Sam returns to precinct (voiceover)

Sam	It was late.  When I got to the precinct no one was in the lobby but the desk sergeant. I told him I was meeting Treadwell and he waved me through. He looked too bored to care and probably figured Treadwell would handle it if there was a problem.

It turns out there was, but Treadwell was in no condition to handle it.	

Sam finds Vivian in Tom's office

Sam	Well hello, Angel.	
Vivian	Marlowe! No, I … it’s not what it looks like.	
Sam	No?	
Vivian	No!  I found him this way.  He was dead when I arrived.	
Sam	Could be.  But that’s not how I figure it.	
Vivian	Oh?  And just how do you figure it?	
Sam	I figure you and he were in on it together.  You conned him into killing your husband, probably promised him you’d be his once your husband was out of the picture.  	
Vivian	That’s quite a story.	
Sam	That’s just the appetizer. Treadwell went along with it, and you probably thought you had him wrapped up good.  Just flash those baby blues, give him a glimpse of your gams... he’d do whatever you wanted.  But he had his own reasons for killing your husband.	
Vivian	Oh?  And what would those be?	
Sam	Your husband was blackmailing him.  Kept records of their business together … payments, assignments, meeting times and places, the works.  He was forcing Treadwell to keep the cops away from his smuggling activities.  But it was getting harder and harder for Treadwell to keep a lid on it.  He must have known it was only a matter of time before the department got wise.  And he needed it to end.	
Vivian	Well, that sounds like a motive for murder to me.  Thanks!  You’ve just proved I had nothing to do with it.  Clearly he acted on his own.	
Sam	Nice try, but see, this is where that falls apart.  How would Treadwell know I was going to be at the warehouse last night?  He wouldn’t, unless someone told him, and the only ones who knew were me and you, and I wasn’t talking.  So he waits for me to get in, kills your husband, and then hides outside and waits to see what happens.	
Vivian	He might not have known you were there at the time.  It could have just been a coincidence.	
Sam	Except for one thing... the cops.  They got there too fast.  They’d been tipped off beforehand.  I think your original idea was to have the cops find me there with the corpse.  But instead I managed to slip out unseen.  That threw a monkey wrench into your plans.  Treadwell was panicked, but he improvised.  He followed me to Shelby’s, saw me hand over the evidence on Laura’s disappearance.  That must have seemed like Christmas.  He waited till I left, then arrested Shelby for the murder, using that evidence as motive.  So Nick became the patsy instead of me.	
Vivian	You’ve got it all worked out, huh?  But where’s your proof?	
Sam	Laying on the floor. You're not wearing any gloves. I'm guessing your prints are all over that knife.	
Vivian	Damn you, Marlowe! Damn you to hell!	
Sam	Well doll, maybe I'll see you there.	

Final Debrief Movie (voiceover)

Sam	It all came out at the trial.  Vivian killed Laura, mistakenly thinking she was Miles' mistress.  She tried to frame Miles for it before having Treadwell kill him, which she tried to pin on me.  No one really knows why she killed Treadwell.  Maybe he tried to blackmail her.  Or maybe she just didn't want to live up to her end of their bargain.  I guess she'll take her motive to the grave with her, which won't be long if the D. A. has anything to say about it.

Nick was released, no worse for wear.  He got his job back at the paper.  Being caught in the middle gave him a unique perspective.  Who knows, maybe his story will win him a Pulitzer.

As for me, I went back to drinking scotch and waiting for the next lost soul to walk through my door.  I closed the books on this one.  Just another case in a city full of cases.  

And with Miles Sternwood dead and Vivian a guest of the state, there was no way I was gonna get paid.  But only one person knows what happened to that diamond necklace... and I ain't talking.  	

The End